Method for Fabrication of a Semiconductor Device and Structure

ABSTRACT

A novel method is presented that may be used to provide a Configurable Logic device, which may be Field Programmable with volume flexibility. A method of fabricating an integrated circuit may include the steps of: providing a semiconductor substrate and forming a borderless logic array, and it may also include the step of forming a plurality of antifuse configurable interconnect circuits and/or a plurality of transistors to configure at least one antifuse. The programming transistors may be fabricated over the antifuse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Various embodiments of the present invention may relate to configurable logic arrays and/or fabrication methods for a Field Programmable Logic Array—FPGA.

2. Discussion of Background Art

Semiconductor manufacturing is known to improve device density in exponential manner over time, but such improvements do come with a price. The mask set cost required for each new process technology has been increasing exponentially. So while 20 years ago a mask set cost less than $20,000 it is now quite common to be charged more than $1M for today's state of the art device mask set.

These changes represent an increasing challenge primarily to custom products, which tend to target smaller volume and less diverse markets therefore making the increased cost of product development very hard to accommodate.

Custom Integrated Circuits can be segmented into two groups. The first group includes devices that have all their layers custom made. The second group includes devices that have at least some generic layers used across different custom products. Well-known examples of the second kind are Gate Arrays, which use generic layers for all layers up to contact layer, and FPGAs, which utilize generic layers for all of their layers. The generic layers in such devices are mostly a repeating pattern structure in array form.

The logic array technology is based on a generic fabric that is customized for a specific design during the customization stage. For an FPGA the customization is done through programming by electrical signals. For Gate Arrays, which in their modern form are sometimes called Structured ASICs, the customization is by at least one custom layer, which might be done with Direct Write eBeam or with a custom mask. As designs tend to be highly variable in the amount of logic and memory and type of I/O each one needs, vendors of logic arrays create product families with a number of Master Slices covering a range of logic, memory size and I/O options. Yet, it is always a challenge to come up with minimum set of Master Slices that will provide a good fit for the maximal number of designs because it is quite costly if a dedicated mask set is required for each Master Slice.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,288 issued to Sato Shinji Sato in March 1988, discloses a method “to provide a gate-array LSI chip which can be cut into a plurality of chips, each of the chips having a desired size and a desired number of gates in accordance with a circuit design.” The prior art in the references cited present few alternative methods to utilize a generic structure for different sizes of custom devices.

The array structure fits the objective of variable sizing. The difficulty to provide variable-sized array structure devices is due to the need of providing I/O cells and associated pads to connect the device to the package. To overcome this limitation Sato suggests a method where I/O could be constructed from the transistors that are also used for the general logic gates. Anderson also suggested a similar approach. U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,916 issued to Anderson et al. on Jun. 8, 1993, discloses a configurable gate array free of predefined boundaries—borderless—using transistor gate cells, of the same type of cells used for logic, to serve the input and output function. Accordingly, the input and output functions may be placed to surround the logic array sized for the specific application. This method presents a severe limitation on the I/O cell to use the same type of transistors as used for the logic and would not allow the use of higher operating voltage for the I/O.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,871 issued to Or-Bach, et al. Sep. 12, 2006, discloses a semiconductor device that includes a borderless logic array and area I/Os. The logic array may comprise a repeating core, and at least one of the area I/Os may be a configurable I/O.

In the past it was reasonable to design an I/O cell that could be configured to the various needs of most customers. The ever increasing need of higher data transfer rate in and out of the device drove the development of special I/O circuits called SerDes. These circuits are complex and require far larger silicon area than conventional I/Os. Consequently, the variations needed are of various amounts of logic, various amounts and types of memories, and various amounts and types of I/O. This implies that even the use of borderless logic array of the prior art will still require multiple expensive mask sets.

The current invention seeks to overcome the prior-art limitations and provide some additional benefits by making use of Through-Silicon-Via, TSV, technology. The technology of “Package of integrated circuits and vertical integration” has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,903 issued to Oleg Siniaguine and Sergey Savastiouk on Nov. 27, 2001.

The most common FPGAs in the market today are based on SRAM as the programming element. Floating-Gate Flash programmable elements are also utilized to some extent. Less commonly, FPGAs use an antifuse as the programming element. The first generation of antifuse FPGAs used antifuses built that were directly in contact with the silicon substrate itself. The second generation moved the antifuse to the metal layers to utilize what is called the Metal to Metal Antifuse. These antifuses function like vias. However, unlike vias that are made with the same metal that is used for the interconnection, these antifuses generally use amorphous silicon and some additional interface layers. While in theory antifuse technology could support a higher density than SRAM, the SRAM FPGA are dominating the market today. In fact, it seems that no one is advancing Antifuse FPGA devices anymore. One of the severe disadvantages of antifuse technology has been their lack of re-programmability. Another disadvantage has been the special silicon manufacturing process required for the antifuse technology which results in extra development costs and the associated time lag with respect to baseline IC technology scaling

The general disadvantage of common FPGA technologies is their relatively poor use of silicon area. While the end customer only cares to have the device perform his desired function, the need to program the FPGA to any function requires the use of a very significant portion of the silicon area for the programming and programming check functions.

Embodiments of the current invention seek to overcome the prior-art limitations and provide some additional benefits by making use of special type of transistors that are fabricated above the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits and thereby allow far better use of the silicon area.

Such transistors are commonly known in the art as Thin Film Transistors or TFT. Thin Film Transistors has been proposed and used for over three decades. One of the better-known usages has been for displays where the TFT are fabricated on top of the glass used for the display. Other type of transistors that could be fabricated above the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits are called Vacuum FET and was introduced three decades ego such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,885.

Other techniques could also be used such as SOI approach. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,355,501 and 6,821,826, both assigned to IBM, a multilayer three-dimensional—3D—CMOS Integrated Circuit is proposed. It suggests bonding an additional thin SOI wafer on top of another SOI wafer forming an integrated circuit on top of another integrated circuit and connecting them by the use of a through-silicon-via. Substrate supplier Soitec SA, Bemin, France is now offering a technology for stacking of a thin layer of processed wafer on top of a base wafer.

Integrating top layer transistors above an insulation layer is not common in an IC because the base layer of crystallized silicon is ideal to provide high density and high quality transistors, and hence preferable. There are some applications where it was suggested to build memory cells using such transistors as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,815,781, 7,446,563 and a portion of an SRAM based FPGA such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,515,511 and 7,265,421.

Embodiments of the current invention seek to take advantage of the top layer transistor to provide a much higher density antifuse-base programmable logic. An additional advantage for such use will be the option to further reduce cost in high volume production by utilizing custom mask(s) to replace the antifuse function, thereby eliminating the top layer(s) anti-fuse programming logic altogether.

SUMMARY OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention seek to provide a new method for semiconductor device fabrication that may be highly desirable for custom products. Embodiments of the current invention suggest the use of Re-programmable antifuse in conjunction with ‘Through Silicon Via’ to construct a new type of configurable logic, or as usually called, FPGA devices. Embodiments of the current invention may provide a solution to the challenge of high mask-set cost and low flexibility that exists in the current common methods of semiconductor fabrication. An additional advantage of some embodiments of the invention is that it could reduce the high cost of manufacturing the many different mask sets required in order to provide a commercially viable range of master slices. Embodiments of the current invention may improve upon the prior art in many respects, which may include the way the semiconductor device is structured and methods related to the of fabrication of semiconductor devices.

Embodiments of the current invention reflect the motivation to save on the cost of masks with respect to the investment that would otherwise have been required to put in place a commercially viable set of master slices. Embodiments of the current invention also seek to provide the ability to incorporate various types of memory blocks in the configurable device. Embodiments of the current invention provide a method to construct a configurable device with the desired amount of logic, memory, I/Os, and analog functions.

In addition, embodiments of the current invention allow the use of repeating logic tiles that provide a continuous terrain of logic. Embodiments of the current invention show that with Through-Silicon-Via (TSV) a modular approach could be used to construct various configurable systems. Once a standard size and location of TSV has been defined one could build various configurable logic dies, configurable memory dies, configurable I/O dies and configurable analog dies which could be connected together to construct various configurable systems. In fact it may allow mix and match between configurable dies, fixed function dies, and dies manufactured in different processes.

Embodiments of the current invention seek to provide additional benefits by making use of special type of transistors that are placed above the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits and thereby allow a far better use of the silicon area. In general an FPGA device that utilizes antifuses to configure the device function may include the electronic circuits to program the antifuses. The programming circuits may be used primarily to configure the device and are mostly an overhead once the device is configured. The programming voltage used to program the antifuse may typically be significantly higher than the voltage used for the operating circuits of the device. The design of the antifuse structure may be designed such that an unused antifuse will not accidentally get fused. Accordingly, the incorporation of the antifuse programming in the silicon substrate may require special attention for this higher voltage, and additional silicon area may, accordingly, be required.

Unlike the operating transistors that are desired to operate as fast as possible, to enable fast system performance, the programming circuits could operate relatively slowly. Accordingly using thin film transistor for the programming circuits could fit very well the required function and would reduce the required silicon area.

The programming circuits may, therefore, be constructed with thin film transistors, which may be fabricated after the fabrication of the operating circuitry, on top of the configurable interconnection layers that incorporate and use the antifuses. Additional advantage of such embodiments of the invention is the ability to reduce cost of the high volume production. One may only need to used mask-defined links instead of the antifuses and their programming circuits. This will in most cases require one custom via mask, and this may save steps associated with the fabrication of the antifuse layers, the thin film transistors, and/or the associated connection layers of the programming circuitry.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention an Integrated Circuit device comprising; a plurality of antifuse configurable interconnect circuits and plurality of transistors to configure at least one of said antifuse; wherein said transistors are fabricated after said antifuse

Further provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention an Integrated Circuit device comprising; a plurality of antifuse configurable interconnect circuits and plurality of transistors to configure at least one of said antifuse; wherein said transistors are placed over said antifuse

Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the Integrated Circuit device is comprising also second antifuse configurable logic cells and plurality of second transistors to configure said second antifuse wherein these second transistors are fabricated before said second antifuse

Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the Integrated Circuit device is comprising also second antifuse configurable logic cells and a plurality of second transistors to configure said second antifuse wherein said second transistors are placed underneath said second antifuse

Further provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention An Integrated Circuit device comprising; first antifuse layer, at least two metal layers over it and a second antifuse layer over this two metal layers

There is presented in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a configurable logic device comprising; antifuse configurable look up table logic interconnected by antifuse configurable interconnect

There is also provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a configurable logic device comprising; plurality of configurable look up table logic, plurality of configurable PLA logic, and plurality of antifuse configurable interconnect

There is also provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a configurable logic device comprising; plurality of configurable look up table logic and plurality of configurable drive cells wherein the drive cells are configured by plurality of antifuses.

Additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a configurable logic device comprising; configurable logic cells interconnected by a plurality of antifuse configurable interconnect circuits wherein at least one of the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits is configured as part of a non volatile memory

Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the configurable logic device comprises at least one antifuse configurable interconnect circuit, which is also configurable to a PLA function.

There is also provided in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention an integrated circuit system comprising; a configurable logic die and an I/O die wherein the configurable logic die is connected to the I/O die by the use of Through-Silicon-Via.

Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system comprises; a configurable logic die and a memory die wherein these dies are connected by the use of Through-Silicon-Via.

Still further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system comprising; a first configurable logic die and second configurable logic die wherein the first configurable logic die and the second configurable logic die are connected by the use of Through-Silicon-Via.

Moreover in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system comprises an I/O die that was fabricated utilizing a different process than the process utilized to fabricate the configurable logic die.

Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system is comprising at least two logic die connected by the use of Through-Silicon-Via and wherein some of the Through-Silicon-Via are utilized to carry the system bus signal

Moreover in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system comprises at least one configurable logic device.

Further in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the integrated circuit system comprises, an antifuse configurable logic die and programmer die and these dies are connected by the use of Through-Silicon-Via.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustration of a prior art;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section illustration of a portion of a prior art represented by the circuit diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect structure;

FIG. 3B is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect structure;

FIG. 4A is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect tile;

FIG. 4B is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect of 2×2 tiles;

FIG. 5A is a drawing illustration of inverter logic cell;

FIG. 5B is a drawing illustration of a buffer logic cell;

FIG. 5C is a drawing illustration of configurable strength buffer logic cell;

FIG. 5D is a drawing illustration of D-Flip Flop logic cell;

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustration of a LUT 4 logic cell;

FIG. 6A is a drawing illustration of a PLA logic cell;

FIG. 7 is a drawing illustration of a programmable cell;

FIG. 8 is a drawing illustration of a programmable device layers structure;

FIG. 8A is a drawing illustration of a programmable device layers structure;

FIG. 9A through 9C are a drawing illustration of an IC system utilizing Through Silicon Via of a prior art;

FIG. 10A is a drawing illustration of continuous array wafer of a prior art;

FIG. 10B is a drawing illustration of continuous array portion of wafer of a prior art;

FIG. 10C is a drawing illustration of continuous array portion of wafer of a prior art;

FIG. 11A through 11F are a drawing illustration of one reticle site on a wafer;

FIG. 12A through 12D are a drawing illustration of Configurable system; and

FIG. 13 a drawing illustration of a flow chart for 3D logic partitioning.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are now described with reference to FIGS. 1-13, it being appreciated that the figures illustrate the subject matter not to scale or to measure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit diagram illustration of a prior art, where, for example, 860-1 to 860-4 are the programming transistors to program antifuse 850-1,1.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section illustration of a portion of a prior art represented by the circuit diagram of FIG. 1 showing the programming transistor 860-1 built as part of the silicon substrate.

FIG. 3A is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect tile. 310-1 is one of 4 horizontal metal strips, which form a band of strips. The typical IC today has many metal layers. In a typical programmable device the first two or three metal layers will be used to construct the logic elements. On top of them metal 4 to metal 7 will be used to construct the interconnection of those logic elements. In an FPGA device the logic elements are programmable, as well as the interconnects between the logic elements. The configurable interconnect of the current invention is constructed from 4 metal layers or more. For example, metal 4 and 5 could be used for long strips and metal 6 and 7 would comprise short strips. Typically the strips forming the programmable interconnect have mostly the same length and are oriented in the same direction, forming a parallel band of strips as 310-1, 310-2, 310-3 and 310-4. Typically one band will comprise 10 to 40 strips. Typically the strips of the following layer will be oriented perpendicularly as illustrated in FIG. 3A, wherein strips 310 are of metal 6 and strips 308 are of metal 7. In this example the dielectric between metal 6 and metal 7 comprises antifuse positions at the crossings between the strips of metal 6 and metal 7. Tile 300 comprises 16 such antifuses. 312-1 is the antifuse at the cross of strip 310-4 and 308-4. If activated it will connect strip 310-4 with strip 308-4. FIG. 3A was made simplified, as the typical tile will comprise 10-40 strips in each layer and multiplicity of such tiles, which comprises the antifuse configurable interconnect structure.

304 is one of the Y programming transistors connected to strip 310-1. 318 is one of the X programming transistors connected to strip 308-4. 302 is the Y select logic which at the programming phase allows the selection of an Y programming transistor. 316 is the X select logic which at the programming phase allows the selection of an X programming transistor. Once 304 and 318 are selected the programming voltage 306 will be applied to strip 310-1 while strip 308-4 will be grounded causing the antifuse 312-4 to be activated.

FIG. 3B is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect structure 300B. 300B is variation of 300A wherein some strips in the band are of a different length. Instead of strip 308-4 in this variation there are two shorter strips 308-4B1 and 308-4B2. This might be useful for bringing signals in or out of the programmable interconnect structure 300B in order to reduce the number of strips in the tile, that are dedicated to bringing signals in and out of the interconnect structure versus strips that are available to perform the routing. In such variation the programming circuit needs to be augmented to support the programming of antifuses 312-3B and 312-4B

Unlike the prior art, various embodiments of the current invention suggest constructing the programming transistors not in the base silicon diffusion layer but rather above the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits. The programming voltage used to program the antifuse is typically significantly higher than the voltage used for the operation circuits of the device. This is part of the design of the antifuse structure so that the antifuse will not get accidentally activated. In addition, extra attention, design effort, and silicon resources might be needed to make sure that the programming phase will not damage the operating circuits. Accordingly the incorporation of the antifuse programming transistors in the silicon substrate may require attention and extra silicon area.

Unlike the operation transistors that are desired to operate as fast as possible and so to enable fast system performance, the programming circuits could operate relatively slowly. Accordingly, a thin film transistor for the programming circuits could fit the required function and could reduce the require silicon area.

Alternatively other type of transistors, such as Vacuum FET, bipolar, etc. could be used for the programming circuits and be placed not in the base silicon but rather above the antifuse configurable interconnect.

Yet in another alternative the programming transistors and the programming circuits could be fabricated on SOI wafers which may then be bonded to the configurable logic wafer and connected to it by the use of through-silicon-via. An advantage of using an SOI wafer for the antifuse programming function is that the high voltage transistors that could be built on it are very efficient and could be used for the programming circuit including support function such as the programming controller function. Yet as an additional variation, the programming circuits could be fabricated on an older process on SOI wafers to farther reduce cost. Or some other process technology and/or wafer fab located anywhere in the world.

Also there are advanced technologies to deposit silicon or other semiconductors layers that could be integrated on top of the antifuse configurable interconnect for the construction of the antifuse programming circuit. As an example a recent technology proposed the use of a plasma gun to spray semiconductor grade silicon to form semiconductor structures including, for example, a p-n junction. The sprayed silicon may be doped to the respective semiconductor type. In addition there are more and more techniques to use graphene and Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) to perform a semiconductor function. For the purpose of this invention we will use the term “Thin-Film-Transistors” as general name for all those technologies, as well as any similar technologies, known or yet to be discovered.

A common objective is to reduce cost for high volume production without redesign and with minimal additional mask cost. The use of thin-film-transistors, for the programming transistors, enables a relatively simple and direct volume cost reduction. Instead of embedding antifuses in the isolation layer a custom mask could be used to define vias on all the locations that used to have their respective antifuse activated. Accordingly the same connection between the strips that used to be programmed is now connected by fixed vias. This may allow saving the cost associated with the fabrication of the antifuse programming layers and their programming circuits. It should be noted that there might be differences between the antifuse resistance and the mask defined via resistance. A conventional way to handle it is by providing the simulation modules for both options so the designer could validate that the design will work properly in both cases.

An additional objective for having the programming circuits above the antifuse layer is to achieve better circuit density. Many connections are needed to connect the programming transistors to their respective metal strips. If those connections are going upward they could reduce the circuit overhead by not blocking interconnection routes on the connection layers underneath.

While FIG. 3A shows an interconnection structure of 4×4 strips, the typical interconnection structure will have far more strips and in many cases more than 20×30. For a 20×30 tile there is needed about 20 to 30 programming transistors. The 20×30 tile area is about 20 hp×30 vp when ‘hp’ is the horizontal pitch and ‘vp’ is the vertical pitch. This may result in a relatively large area for the programming transistor of about 12 hp×vp. Additionally, the area available for each connection between the programming layer and the programmable interconnection fabric needs to be handled. Accordingly, one or two redistribution layers might be needed in order to redistribute the connection within the available area and then bring those connections down, preferably aligned so to create minimum blockage as they are routed to the underlying strip 310 of the programmable interconnection structure.

FIG. 4A is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect tile 300. As a higher silicon density is achieved it becomes desirable to construct the configurable interconnect in the most compact fashion. FIG. 4B is a drawing illustration of a programmable interconnect of 2×2 tiles. It comprises checkerboard style of tiles 300 and tiles 320 which is a tile 300 rotated by 90 degrees. For a signal to travel South to North, south to north strips need to be connected with antifuses like 406. 406 and 410 are antifuses that are positioned at the end of a strip to allow it to connect to another strip in the same direction. The signal traveling from South to North is alternating from metal 6 to metal 7. Once the direction needs to change, an antifuse such as 312-1 is used

The configurable interconnection structure function may be used to interconnect the output of logic cells to the input of logic cells to construct the desired semi-custom logic. The logic cells themselves are constructed by utilizing the first few metal layers to connect transistors that are built in the silicon substrate. Usually metal 1 layer and metal 2 layer are used for the construction of the logic cells. Some times it is effective to use also metal 3 or a part of it.

FIG. 5A is a drawing illustration of inverter 504 with an input 502 and an output 506. An inverter is the simplest logic cell The input 502 and the output 506 might be connected to strips in the configurable interconnection structure.

FIG. 5B is a drawing illustration of a buffer 514 with an input 512 and an output 516. The input 512 and the output 516 might be connected to strips in the configurable interconnection structure.

FIG. 5C is a drawing illustration of configurable strength buffer 524 With an input 522 and an output 526. The input 522 and the output 526 might be connected to strips in the configurable interconnection structure. 524 is configurable by means of antifuses 528-1, 528-2 and 528-3 constructing an antifuse configurable drive cell.

FIG. 5D is a drawing illustration of D-Flip Flop 534 with inputs 532-2, and output 536 with control inputs 532-1, 532-3, 532-4 and 532-5. The control signals could be connected to the configurable interconnects or to local or global control signals.

FIG. 6 is a drawing illustration of a LUT 4. LUT4 604 is a well-known logic element in the FPGA art called 4 bit Look-Up-Table or in short LUT4. It has 4 inputs 602-1, 602-2, 602-3 and 602-4. It has an output 606. In general LUT4 can program to perform any logic function of 4 inputs. The LUT function of FIG. 6 may be implemented by a maximum of (depopulation algos) 32 antifuses like 608-1. 604-5 is a two to one multiplexer. The common way to implement LUT4 in FPGA is by using 16 SRAM bit-cell and 15 multiplexers. The illustration of FIG. 6 demonstrates an antifuse configurable look up table implementation of LUT4 by 32 antifuses and 7 multiplexers.

FIG. 6A is a drawing illustration of a PLA logic cell 6A00. This used to be the most popular programmable logic primitive until LUT logic took the leadership. Other acronyms used for this type of logic are PLD and PAL. 6A01 is one of the antifuses that enables the selection of the signal fed to the multi-input AND 6A14. In this drawing any cross between vertical line and horizontal line comprise an antifuse to allow the connection to be made according to the desired end function. The large AND cell 6A14 constructs the product term by performing the AND function on the selection of inputs 6A02 or their inverted replicas. A multi-input OR 6A15 performs the OR function on a selection of those product terms to construct an output 6A06. FIG. 6A illustrates an antifuse configurable PLA logic.

The logic cells presented in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 6A are just representatives. There exist many options for construction of programmable logic fabric including additional logic cells such as AND, MUX and many others, and variations on those cells. Also, in the construction of the logic fabric there might be variation with respect to which of their inputs and outputs are connected by the configurable interconnect fabric and which are connected directly in a non-configurable way.

FIG. 7 is a drawing illustration of a programmable cell 700. By tiling such cells a programmable fabric is constructed. The tiling could be of the same cell being repeated over and over to form a homogenous fabric. Alternatively, a blend of different cells could be tiled for heterogeneous fabric. The logic cell 700 could be any of those presented in FIGS. 5 and 6, a mix and match of them or other primitives as discussed before. The logic cell 710 inputs 702 and output 706 are connected to the configurable interconnection fabric 720 with input and output strips 708 with associated antifuses 701. The short interconnects 722 are comprising metal strips that are the length of the tile, they comprise horizontal strips 722H, on one metal layer and vertical strips 722V on another layer, with antifuse 701HV in the cross between them, to allow selectively connecting horizontal strip to vertical strip. The connection of a horizontal strip to another horizontal strip is with antifuse 701HH that functions like antifuse 410 of FIG. 4. The connection of a vertical strip to another vertical strip is with antifuse 701VV that function like fuse 406 of FIG. 4. The long horizontal strips 724 are used to route signals that travel a longer distance, usually the length of 8 or more tiles. Usually one strip of the long bundle will have a selective connection by antifuse 724LH to the short strips, and similarly, for the vertical long strips 724. FIG. 7 illustrates the programmable cell 700 as a two dimensional illustration. In real life 700 is a three dimensional construct where the logic cell 710 utilizes the base silicon with Metal 1, Metal 2, and some times Metal 3. The programmable interconnect fabric including the associated antifuses will be constructed on top of it.

FIG. 8 is a drawing illustration of a programmable device layers structure according to an alternative of the current invention. In this alternative there are two layers comprising antifuses. The first is designated to configure the logic terrain and, in some cases, to also configure the logic clock distribution. The first antifuse layer could also be used to manage some of the power distribution to save power by not providing power to unused circuits. This layer could also be used to connect some of the long routing tracks and/or connections to the inputs and outputs of the logic cells.

The device fabrication of the example shown in FIG. 8 starts with the semiconductor substrate 802 comprising the transistors used for the logic cells and also the first antifuse layer programming transistors. Then comes layers 804 comprising Metal 1 dielectric Metal 2 and sometimes Metal 3. These layers are used to construct the logic cells and often I/O and other analog cells. In this alternative of the current invention a plurality of first antifuses are incorporated in the isolation layer between metal 1 and metal 2 or in the isolation layer between metal 2 and metal 3 and their programming transistors could be embedded in the silicon substrate 802 being underneath the first antifuses. These first antifuses could be used to program logic cells such as 520, 600 and 700 and to connect individual cells to construct larger logic functions. These first antifuses could also be used to configure the logic clock distribution. The first antifuse layer could also be used to manage some of the power distribution to save power by not providing power to unused circuits. This layer could also be used to connect some of the long routing tracks and/or one or more connections to the inputs and outputs of the cells.

The following few layers 806 could comprise long interconnection tracks for power distribution and clock networks, or a portion of these, in addition to what was fabricated in the first few layers 804.

The following few layers 808 could comprise the antifuse configurable interconnection fabric. It might be called the short interconnection fabric, too. If metal 6 and metal 7 are used for the strips of this configurable interconnection fabric then the second antifuse may be embedded in the dielectric layer between metal 6 and metal 7.

The programming transistors and the other parts of the programming circuit could be fabricated afterward and be on top of the configurable interconnection fabric 810. The programming element could be thin film transistor or other alternatives for over oxide transistors as was mentioned before. In such case the antifuse programming transistors are placed over the antifuse layer, which may thereby enable the configurable interconnect 808 or 804. It should be noted that in some case it might be useful, to construct part of the control logic for the second antifuse programming circuits, in the base layers 802 and 804.

The final step is the connection to the outside 812. These could be pads for wire bonding, soldering balls for flip chip, optical, or other connection structures such as those required for TSV.

In another alternative of the current invention the antifuse programmable interconnect structure could be designed for multiple use. The same structure could be used as a part of the interconnection fabric, or as a part of the PLA logic cell, or as part of a ROM function. In an FPGA product it might be desirable to have an element that could be used for multiple purposes. Having resources that could be used for multiple functions could increase the utility of the FPGA device.

FIG. 8A is a drawing illustration of a programmable device layers structure according to another alternative of the current invention. In this alternative there is additional circuit 814 connected by Through-Silicon-Via 816 to the first antifuse layer 804. This underlying device is providing the programming transistor for the first antifuse layer 804. In this way, the programmable device substrate diffusion layer 816 does not suffer the are and cost penalty of the programming transistors required for the first antifuse layer 804. Accordingly the programming connection of the first antifuse layer will be directed downward to connect to the underline programming device 814 while the programming connection to the second antifuse layer will be directed upward to connect to the programming circuits 810. This could provide less congestion of the circuit internal interconnection routes.

FIG. 9A through 9C are a drawing illustration of alternative configurations for three-dimensional—3D integration of multiple dies constructing IC system and utilizing Through Silicon Via. In FIG. 9A we can see an example in which the Through Silicon Via is continuing vertically through all the dies constructing a global cross-die connection. In 9B we can see an illustration of similar sized dies constructing a 3D system. 9B shows that the Through Silicon Via 404 is at the same relative location in all the dies constructing a standard interface.

FIG. 9C illustrates a 3D system with dies having different sizes. FIG. 9C also illustrates the use of wire bonding from all three dies in connecting the IC system to the outside.

FIG. 10A is a drawing illustration of a continuous array wafer of a prior art U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,425. The bubble 102 shows the repeating tile of the continuous array, 104 are the horizontal and vertical potential dicing lines. The tile 102 could be construct as in FIG. 10B 102-1 with potential dicing line 104-1 or as in FIG. 10C with SERDES Quad 106 as part of the tile 102-2 and potential dicing lines 104-2.

In general logic devices comprise varying quantities of logic elements, varying amount of memories, and varying amount of I/O. The continuous array of the prior art allows defining various die sizes out of the same wafers and accordingly varying amounts of logic, but it is far more difficult to vary the three-way ratio between logic, I/O, and memory. In addition, there exists different types of memories such as SRAM, DRAM, Flash, and others, and there exist different types of I/O such as SERDES. Some applications might need still other functions like processor, DSP, analog functions, and others.

Embodiments of the current invention may enable a different approach. Instead of trying to put all of these different functions onto one programmable die, which will require a large number of very expensive mask sets, it uses Through-Silicon Via to construct configurable systems.

Accordingly embodiments of the current invention may suggest the use of a continuous array of tiles focusing each one on a single, or very few types of, function. Then, it constructs the end-system by integrating the desired amount from each type of tiles, in a 3D IC system.

FIG. 11A is a drawing illustration of one reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of programmable logic 1100A denoted FPGA. Such wafer is a continuous array of programmable logic. 1102 are potential dicing lines to support various die sizes and the amount of logic to be constructed from one mask set. This die could be used as a base 1202A, 1202B, 1202C or 1202D of the 3D system as in FIG. 12. In one alternative of this invention these dies may carry mostly logic, and the desired memory and I/O may be provided on other dies, which may be connected by means of Through-Silicon Via. It should be noted that in some cases it will be desired not to have metal lines, even if unused, in the dicing streets 108. In such case, at least for the logic dies, one may use dedicated masks to allow connection over the unused potential dicing lines to connect the individual tiles according to the desire die size. The actual dicing lines are called also streets.

FIG. 11B is a drawing illustration of an alternative reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of Structured ASIC 1100B. Such wafer may be, for example, a continuous array of configurable logic. 1102 are potential dicing lines to support various die sizes and the amount of logic to be constructed. This die could be used as a base 1202A, 1202B, 1202C or 1202D of the 3D system as in FIG. 12.

FIG. 11C is a drawing illustration of another reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of RAM 1100C. Such wafer may be a continuous array of memories. The die diced out of such wafer may be a memory die component of the 3D integrated system. It might include an antifuse layer or other form of configuration technique to function as a configurable memory die. Yet it might be constructed as a multiplicity of memories connected by multiplicity of Through-Silicon Via to the configurable die, which may also be used to configure the raw memories of the memory die to their desire function in the configurable system.

FIG. 11D is a drawing illustration of another reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of DRAM 1100D. Such wafer may be a continuous array of DRAM memories.

FIG. 11E is a drawing illustration of another reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of microprocessor or microcontroller cores 1100E. Such wafer may be a continuous array of Processors.

FIG. 11F is a drawing illustration of another reticle site on a wafer comprising tiles of I/Os 1100F. This could include groups of SERDES. Such a wafer may be a continuous tile of I/Os. The die diced out of such wafer may be an I/O die component of a 3D integrated system. It could include an antifuse layer or other form of configuration technique to configure these I/Os of the configurable I/O die to their function in the configurable system. Yet it might be constructed as a multiplicity of I/O connected by multiplicity of Through-Silicon Via to the configurable die, which may also be used to configure the raw I/Os of the I/O die to their desire function in the configurable system.

I/O circuits are a good example of where it could be advantageous to utilize an older generation process. Usually, the process drivers are SRAM and logic circuits. It often takes longer to develop the analog function associated with I/O circuits, SerDes circuits, PLLs, and other linear functions. Additionally, while there may be an advantage to using smaller transistors for the logic functionality, I/O may require stronger drive and relatively larger transistors. Accordingly, using an older process may be more cost effective, as the older process wafer might cost less while still performing effectively.

An additional function that it might be effective to pull out of the programmable logic die, onto one of the other dies in the 3D system, connected by Through-Silicon-Vias, may be the Clock circuits and their associated PLL, DLL, and control. Clock circuits and distribution may often be area consuming and may be challenging in view of noise generation. They also could in many cases be more effectively be implemented using an older process. The Clock tree and distribution circuits could be included in the I/O die. Additionally the clock signal could be transferred to the programmable die using the Through-Silicon-Vias or by optical means. A technique to transfer data between dies by optical means was presented for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,498 assigned to Intel Corp.

Having wafers dedicated to each of these functions may support high volume generic product manufacturing. Then, similar to Lego® blocks, many different configurable systems could be constructed with various amounts of logic memory and I/O In addition to the alternatives presented in FIG. 11A through 11F there many other useful functions that could be built and that could be incorporated into the 3D Configurable System. Examples of such may be image sensors, analog, data acquisition functions, photovoltaic devices, non-volatile memory, and so forth.

Those components of configurable systems could be built by one vendor, or by multiple vendors, who agree on standard physical interface to allow mix-and-match of various dies from various vendors.

The construction of the 3D Programmable System could be done for the general market use or custom-tailored for a specific customer.

Another advantage of some embodiments of this invention may be an ability to mix and match various processes. It might be advantageous to use memory from a leading edge process, while the I/O, and maybe an analog function die, could be used from an older process of mature technology (e.g., as discussed above).

FIGS. 12A through 12D are a drawing illustration of integrated circuit systems. An integrated circuit system that comprises configurable die could be called a Configurable System. FIGS. 12A through 12D are a drawing illustrating integrated circuit systems or Configurable Systems with various options of die sizes within the 3D system and alignments of the various dies.

The Through Silicon Via technology is constantly evolving. In the early generations such via would be 10 microns in diameter. Advanced work is now demonstrating Through Silicon Via with less than a 1-micron diameter. Yet, the density of connection horizontally within the die may typically still be far denser than the vertical connection using Through Silicon Via.

In another alternative of the present invention the logic portion could be broken up into multiple dies, which may be of the same size, to be integrated to a 3D configurable system. Similarly it could be advantageous to divide the memory into multiple dies, and so forth, with other function.

Recent work on 3D integration shows effective ways to bond wafers together and then dice those bonded wafers. This kind of assembly may lead to die structures like FIG. 12A or FIG. 12D. Alternatively for some 3D assembly techniques it may be better to have dies of different sizes. Furthermore, breaking the logic function into multiple vertically integrated dies may be used to reduce the average length of some of the heavily loaded wires such as clock signals and data buses, which may, in turn, improve performance.

FIG. 13 is a flow-chart illustration for 3D logic partitioning. The partitioning of a logic design to two or more vertically connected dies presents a different challenge for a Place and Route—P&R—tool. The common layout flow starts with planning the placement followed by routing. But the design of the logic of vertically connected dies may give priority to the much-reduced frequency of connections between dies and may create a need for a special design flow. In fact, a 3D system might merit planning some of the routing first as presented in the flows of FIG. 13.

The flow chart of FIG. 13 uses the following terms:

-   M—The number of TSV available for logic; -   N(n)—The number of nodes connected to net n; -   S(n)—The median slack of net n; -   MinCut—a known algorithm to partition logic design (net-list) to two     pieces about equal in size with a minimum number of nets (MC)     connecting the pieces; -   MC—number of nets connecting the two partitions; -   K1, K2—Two parameters selected by the designer.

One idea of the proposed flow of FIG. 13 is to construct a list of nets in the logic design that connect more than K1 nodes and less than K2 nodes. K1 and K2 are parameters that could be selected by the designer and could be modified in an iterative process. K1 should be high enough so to limit the number of nets put into the list. The flow's objective is to assign the TSVs to the nets that have tight timing constraints—critical nets. And also have many nodes whereby having the ability to spread the placement on multiple die help to reduce the overall physical length to meet the timing constrains. The number of nets in the list should be close but smaller than the number of TSVs. Accordingly K1 should be set high enough to achieve this objective. K2 is the upper boundary for nets with the number of nodes N(n) that would justify special treatment.

Critical nets may be identified usually by using static timing analysis of the design to identify the critical paths and the available “slack” time on these paths, and pass the constraints for these paths to the floorplanning, layout and routing tools so that the final design is not degraded beyond the requirement.

Once the list is constructed it is priority-ordered according to increasing slack, or the median slack, S(n), of the nets. Then, using a partitioning algorithm, such as, but not limited to, MinCut, the design may be split into two parts, with the highest priority nets split about equally between the two parts. The objective is to give the nets that have tight slack a better chance to be placed close enough to meet the timing challenge. Those nets that have higher than K1 nodes tend to get spread over a larger area, and by spreading into three dimensions we get a better chance to meet the timing challenge.

The Flow of FIG. 13 suggests an iterative process of allocating the TSVs to those nets that have many nodes and are with the tightest timing challenge, or smallest slack.

Clearly the same Flow could be adjusted to three-way partition or any other number according to the number of dies the logic will be spread on.

Constructing a 3D Configurable System comprising antifuse base logic also provides features that may implement yield enhancement through utilizing redundancies. This may be even more convenient in a 3D structure of embodiments of the current invention because the memories may not be sprinkled between the logic but may rather be concentrated in the memory die, which may be vertically connected to the logic die. Constructing redundancy in the memory, and the proper self-repair flow, may have a smaller effect on the logic and system performance.

The potential dicing streets of the continuous array of this invention represent some loss of silicon area. The narrower the street the lower the loss is, and therefore, it may be advantageous to use advanced dicing techniques that can create and work with narrow streets.

An additional advantage of the 3D Configurable System of various embodiments of this invention may be a reduction in testing cost. This is the result of building a unique system by using standard ‘Lego®’ blocks. Testing standard blocks could reduce the cost of testing by using standard probe cards and standard test programs.

In yet an additional alternative of the current invention, the 3D antifuse Configurable System, may also comprise a Programming Die. In some cases of FPGA products, and primarily in antifuse-based products, there is an external apparatus that may be used for the programming the device. In many cases it is a user convenience to integrate this programming function into the FPGA device. This may result in a significant die overhead as the programming process requires higher voltages as well as control logic. The programmer function could be designed into a dedicated Programming Die. Such a Programmer Die could comprise the charge pump, to generate the higher programming voltage, and a controller with the associated program to program the antifuse configurable dies within the 3D Configurable circuits, and the programming check circuits. The Programming Die might be fabricated using lower cost older semiconductor process. An additional advantage of this 3D architecture of the Configurable System may be a high volume cost reduction option wherein the antifuse layer may be replaced with a custom layer and, therefore, the Programming Die could be removed from the 3D system for a more cost effective high volume production.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art, that the present invention is using the term antifuse as it is the common name in the industry, but it also refers in this invention to any micro element that functions like a switch, meaning a micro element that initially has highly resistive-OFF state, and electronically it could be made to switch to a very low resistance-ON state. It could also correspond to a device to switch ON-OFF multiple times—a re-programmable switch. As an example there are new innovations, such as the electrostatically actuated Metal-Droplet micro-switch, that may be compatible for integration onto CMOS chips.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art, that the present invention is not limited to antifuse configurable logic and it will be applicable to other non-volatile configurable logic. A good example for such is the Flash based configurable logic. Flash programming may also require higher voltages, and having the programming transistors and the programming circuits in the base diffusion layer may reduces the overall density of the base diffusion layer. Using various embodiments of the current invention may be useful and could allow a higher device density. It is therefore suggested to build the programming transistors and the programming circuits, not as part of the diffusion layer, but according to one or more embodiments of the present invention. In high volume production one or more custom masks could be used to replace the function of the Flash programming and accordingly save the need to add on the programming transistors and the programming circuits.

Unlike metal-to-metal antifuses that could be placed as part of the metal interconnection, Flash circuits need to be fabricated in the base diffusion layers. As such it might be less efficient to have the programming transistor in a layer way above. An alternative embodiment of the current invention is to use Through-Silicon-Via 816 to connect the configurable logic device and its Flash devices to an underlying structure 804 comprising the programming transistors.

It will also be appreciated by persons skilled in the art, that the present invention is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. Rather, the scope of the present invention includes both combinations and sub-combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as modifications and variations which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description and which are not in the prior art. 

1. An Integrated Circuit device comprising: a plurality of antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits; and a plurality of transistors arranged to configure at least one antifuse of said antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits, wherein said transistors are above said antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits.
 2. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 1, wherein said transistors are fabricated after said antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits.
 3. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 1, further comprising: second antifuse-configurable logic cells; and a plurality of second transistors arranged to configure at least one antifuse of said second antifuse-configurable logic cells, wherein said second transistors are fabricated before said second antifuse-configurable logic cells.
 4. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 2, further comprising: one or more second antifuse-configurable logic cells; and one or more second transistors to configure one or more antifuses of said second antifuse-configurable logic cells, wherein said second transistors are underneath said second antifuse-configurable logic cells.
 5. An Integrated Circuit device comprising: a first antifuse layer; at least two metal layers over the first antifuse layer; and a second antifuse layer over said at least two metal layers.
 6. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 5, wherein said first antifuse layer is arranged to configure configurable look up table logic, and wherein said second antifuse layer is arranged to configure one or more configurable interconnects.
 7. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 5, wherein said first antifuse layer is arranged to configure a plurality of configurable look up table logic devices and a plurality of configurable programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and wherein said second antifuse layer is arranged to configure one or more configurable interconnects.
 8. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 5, further comprising: a plurality of configurable look up table logic devices; and a plurality of configurable drive cells, wherein said drive cells are to be configured by a plurality of antifuses of said first antifuse layer.
 9. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said antifuse configurable interconnect circuits is configured as part of non-volatile memory
 10. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 9, wherein said at least one of the antifuse configurable interconnect circuits is also configurable as part of PLA function.
 11. An integrated circuit system comprising: a configurable logic die; and an I/O die, wherein said configurable logic die is connected to said I/O die by the use of at least one through-silicon-via; and wherein said configurable logic die comprises one or more antifuses.
 12. An integrated circuit system according to claim 11, farther comprising a memory die, wherein said dies are connected by the use of at least one through-silicon-via.
 13. An integrated circuit system according to claim 11, further comprising a second configurable logic die, wherein said dies are connected by the use of at least one through-silicon-via.
 14. An integrated circuit system according to claim 11, wherein said I/O die was fabricated utilizing a different process from a process utilized to fabricate said configurable logic die.
 15. A design tool to synthesize an integrated circuit system according to claim 13, the design tool comprising: an algorithm to select one or more nets which have more than a predetermined number of nodes to thereby obtain a set of selected nets and to select a subset of said set of selected nets that have the lowest slack, the resulting subset of nets to be split into the configurable logic dies connected by at least one through-silicon-via.
 16. An integrated circuit system according to claim 15, wherein at least one of said logic dies comprises a configurable logic device.
 17. An integrated circuit system according to claim 11, further comprising a programmer die wherein said dies are connected by the use of at least one through-silicon-via, and wherein said programmer die provides at least some programming circuits for programming at least some of said antifuses.
 18. An Integrated Circuit device comprising: a semiconductor substrate; a multiplicity of metal layers; a plurality of antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits; and a plurality of transistors arranged to configure at least one antifuse of the antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits, wherein said antifuse-configurable interconnect layer is fabricated within said multiplicity of metal layers so as to allow connection between at least two of said metal layers, and wherein said transistors are fabricated above said antifuse.
 19. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 18, wherein said transistors are fabricated after said antifuse-configurable interconnect layer.
 20. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 18, further comprising: one or more antifuse-configurable logic cells; and a plurality of second transistors arranged to configure at least one antifuse of said one or more antifuse-configurable logic cells, wherein said second transistors are fabricated before said one or more antifuse-configurable logic cells.
 21. An integrated circuit system comprising: a configurable logic die, wherein said configurable logic die comprises a semiconductor substrate; an I/O die, wherein said configurable logic die is connected to said I/O die by the use of at least one through-silicon-via; a multiplicity of metal layers; a plurality of antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits; and a plurality of transistors arranged to configure at least one antifuse of said antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits, wherein said at least one antifuse is fabricated within said multiplicity of metal layers so as to allow connection between at least two of said metal layers.
 22. An integrated circuit system according to claim 21, further comprising a memory die, wherein said dies are connected by the use of at least one through-silicon-via.
 23. An integrated circuit system according to claim 21, further comprising a configurable logic die, wherein said dies are connected by the use of at least one through-silicon-via.
 24. An integrated circuit system according to claim 21, wherein said I/O die was fabricated utilizing a different process from a process utilized to fabricate said configurable logic die.
 25. An Integrated Circuit device according to claim 18, wherein said transistors are connected to at least one antifuse of the antifuse-configurable interconnect circuits by using at least one through-silicon-via. 